


Drink With Me

by LotusFlair



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: But Seriously We Almost Died, Friendship, Gen, Not Canon Compliant, Post Dungeon Master, everything is fine, they need a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22929274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LotusFlair/pseuds/LotusFlair
Summary: There's no telling how long the bottle has been in this kitchen below the sea, but Zolf figures they could all do with a drink.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	Drink With Me

**Author's Note:**

> Song title comes from "Drink With Me" from Les Misérables the musical!

When he entered the kitchen, Zolf looked over his shoulder to make sure no one else was watching. They were all suitably distracted with looting the remains of Shoin's undersea bunker that tripled as a laboratory and command hub. Azu and Cel were scoping out the bedroom and Hamid was inspecting the main room for any documents he might've missed the first time around. Skraak dutifully followed Hamid, the two chatting in draconic as they searched.

Good, no one was watching.

He let out a long sigh that wavered towards the end as he pressed his head against the cool metal shelving. That was close. Too close. If Hamid hadn't released the full force of his dragon fire on the monstrosity, he was certain the battle would've gone differently. One more punch and he'd have been out. Maybe not dead, but most assuredly out of the fight. One more to Azu and she would've died, no question. Even with the healing they'd distributed in the aftermath, she still looked rough. Without the two healers, Cel and Hamid...and Skraak would've been left with some terrible choices: run and possibly survive, stay and probably die while trying to revive their fallen friends, or finish off the monster for good.

Gods, they needed a break. How long had they been here? A few hours? Days? It felt like a year had passed since they left on their rickety ship to infiltrate the storm-bound lighthouse.

 _Do a grief later_ , he'd said once and he couldn't recognize the dwarf saying those words anymore. When this was all over, he couldn't wait to let the sorrow pour out of him. Preferably over something containing alcohol. He knew the others needed that release as well. There just wasn't the time unless they made the time and even then this was the last place he'd want to provide a safe space for their group therapy session.

Another sigh, a deep breath, shoulders squared and he was ready to loot the kitchen. Inspecting the shelves, there were loads of cans. So many cans of preserved foods, though he was wont for a clear expiration date or a method of organization. Typical Shoin, as he'd learned in their journey through the egomaniac's annoyingly endless lair of puzzle's and death. He couldn't wait to inform Oscar - Wilde - of this chapter in their mission. Hopefully, the notes and Cel's newly acquired brain in a globe would provide the information necessary to strike back at the plague attacking the world. Otherwise, he couldn't help but think that they'd wasted what precious time they had chasing another dead end. But he couldn't let those thoughts linger and he didn't dare share them with the others. Not now, not when they were all so fragile. They needed a win. This was a win and they were going to treat it as one.

Just as the affirmation entered his mind, he spied the one shelf full of familiar and identifiable bottles. It wasn't the best wine money could buy, but with age the vintage had already increased in value and taste, so they were sitting on a pretty expensive wine cellar. Caring not a lick for the mystery cans, Zolf opened his bag of holding and knocked two shelves worth of food in with a quick swipe of his arm. The meal set, it was time to pick the accompanying beverage.

He stared at the wine until he was cross-eyed. _Too many options_ , he thought. _Just stick out your hand and grab one._

So he did.

"Everybody get in 'ere!" he called. They came running because of course they did. Their individual searches abandoned, they rushed to him because he might be in trouble; because they cared.

"What?! What is it?" Azu asked, hands shaking as they gripped her great axe.

Zolf proudly displayed the bottle of red wine. "Found sumthin' to drink!"

"Ooh!" said Cel and Hamid. Skraak looked worried, as if he'd never seen anyone else touch Shoin's things with such disrespect. Not that the little kobold was entirely blameless, he'd just never witnessed others do it so boldly.

Azu seemed less enthusiastic about Zolf's discovery. "It's wine."

"No, Azu. It's _Shoin's_ wine. And we're gonna drink it," Zolf said.

"In front of his brain!" Cel exclaimed, holding the globe aloft triumphantly. That the broken body that once contained the brain globe decided to spark behind Cel with precision timing was probably a coincidence. But it happened and they were given the privilege of witnessing it.

"Sure. Why not?" Zolf said. "Not like he can do anythin' about it."

"It would be nice to sit down for a bit," Hamid said. He placed his hand on Azu's arm. She pressure from his fingers as he attempted to push her arm, and the axe, down. "I think we're okay for now, Azu."

"Nothing is okay, Hamid," she said, bluntly.

"No. No, it isn't, but we're still alive," Hamid said, his eyes still bright with a glimmer of hope. "And I think that's worth celebrating."

"I agree!" Cel said. "Also, I'm very tired. Being a giant bat creature that vomits spiders isn't as invigorating as I thought it would be. I'll have to talk to Jasper about tweaking the formula. Skraak, what did you think of the transformation? Also, do you prefer Bat-Cel or Cel-Bat?"

Cel, in their excitement, hadn't switched to Japanese, so Skraak spent a long time staring at them until Hamid translated for him. He thought about it for a minute, weighing the options with his hands acting as the scales of his decision. Then the cause was abandoned as he shrugged and gave a thumbs up.

"You're right, we'll workshop it," Cel said, thoughtfully.

"Anyway," Zolf said, thrusting the bottle forward. "Wine. There's also loads of cans of food without a discernible organizational strategy, so dinner's more of a choose-your-own-adventure at the moment."

"Why should anything else here be obvious?" Azu said, a morose tone in her voice that didn't go unnoticed by Hamid or Zolf.

"We'll make sense of it, Azu," Hamid said. He tried to offer comfort, but the hurt was too fresh for Azu to take in the kindness. She felt another, stronger grip on her right. Zolf's eyes were dulled by exhaustion and a lifetime's worth of grief, but there was still that same glimmer of hope. She felt herself sinking into a deep hole of fear, anger, and regret, but Zolf had been there before and even though they hadn't known each other for long, he knew the way out. Between the two much smaller warriors flanking her, she started to feel some of their optimism seep through the cracks in her armor.

There wasn't time to fully give in to all of their immediate feelings, but they could spare these small moments.

And they could drink Shoin's wine.

"Alright. One bottle," she said, finally resting the head of her axe on the floor.

"Then we scuttle down to the even lower levels of this neverending tribute this bastard's ego," Zolf grumbled.

"Only one bottle?" Hamid asked.

"Knock a few bottle into yer bag, Hamid. I'm sure you an' Wilde'll will find the time to have an old fashioned wine tasting when we get back," Zolf said.

"Hmm, a flight of Shoin's best," Hamid said, wistfully.

"A post-fight flight, if you will," Zolf offered.

"I enjoyed that wordplay, Zolf!" Cel exclaimed. "That was well done! As is Shoin's body contraption! More like extra crispy with a side of...I want to say it's like - like a goo-type substance. Not slimy, mind you. Please - please don't confuse it for slime. It's a gooey, melty mess. But dragon fire'll do that, so it's acting exactly as it should. I think."

"You were very brave, Hamid," Azu said. She placed her much larger hand on his much smaller shoulder, squeezing gently. "Thank you."

"Any time," Hamid said. Tears welled up in his golden brown eyes. "Every time."

"I'll drink to that," Zolf said, quietly.

"Yes, please!" Hamid said.

They arranged themselves off to the side of the table Shoin had been so insistent they sit at for his ultimate boss reveal. It was a small circle and in the middle Zolf opened a few cans from the pantry. It was preserved peaches and pickled herring. Not the most traditional pairing with a red, but they made it work. Ten minutes passed, maybe twenty, but when they were ready to descend into whatever awaited them below they did so with a renewed sense of purpose and just a smidgen of liquid courage.


End file.
